Le Jardin Academy is an inclusive learning environment that aims to increase access and engagement in learning for our students by identifying and removing barriers.

Proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983, the theory of multiple intelligences has revolutionized how we understand learning. Gardner considers that everyone has strengths in different areas, and that there is no normative way to “be smart”. Some may have intelligence strengths in kinesthetic learning, while others may have strengths musically, mathematically, or verbally. The idea is that all of us posses each intelligence, though each intelligence is developed in different ways and at different depths. Everyone can grow and change in each way, and multiple intelligence theory is not designed to create a fixed mindset about our future capabilities, but rather to illustrate the diversity of intelligence, and investigate the myriad ways that we can learn. Here at LJA, our Middle School students have been discussing this theory in advisory groups. We took a multiple intelligence self test which shows where our strengths are now (while explaining that this may change over time), and discussed that here at Le Jardin we strive to become balanced learners while also honoring our different strengths as a community.